The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for determining the nature of submarine and subterranean reservoirs. More particularly, the invention is concerned with determining whether a reservoir, whose approximate geometry and location are known, contains hydrocarbons or water.
Currently, the most widely used techniques for geological surveying, particularly in sub-marine situations, are seismic methods. These seismic techniques are capable of revealing the structure of the subterranean strata with some accuracy. However, whereas a seismic survey can reveal the location and shape of a potential reservoir, it cannot reveal the nature of the reservoir.
The solution therefore is to drill a borehole into the reservoir. However, the costs involved in drilling an exploration well tend to be in the region of £25 m and since the success rate is generally about 1 in 10, this tends to be a very costly exercise.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a system for determining, with greater certainty, the nature of a subterranean reservoir without the need to sink a borehole.
According to one aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of determining the nature of a subterranean reservoir whose approximate geometry and location are known, which comprises: applying a time varying electromagnetic field to the strata containing the reservoir; detecting the electromagnetic wave field response; and analysing the effects on the characteristics of the detected field that have been caused by the reservoir, thereby determining the content of the reservoir, based on the analysis.
According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided apparatus for determining the nature of a subterranean reservoir whose approximate geometry and location are known comprising: means for applying a time varying electromagnetic field to the strata containing the reservoir; means for detecting the electromagentic wave field response, and means for analysing the effects on the detected field that have been caused by the reservoir, thereby enabling the content of the reservoir to be determined based on the analysis.
It has been appreciated by the present applicants that while the seismic properties of oil-filled strata and water-filled strata do not differ significantly, their electromagnetic resistivities/permittivities do differ. Thus, by using an electromagnetic surveying method, these differences can be exploited and the success rate in predicting the nature of a reservoir can be increased significantly. This represents potentially an enormous cost saving.
The technique is applicable in exploring land-based subterranean reservoirs but is especially applicable to submarine, in particular sub-sea, subterranean reservoirs. Preferably the field is applied using one or more stationary transmitters located on the earth""s surface, and the detection is carried out by one or more stationary receivers located on the earth""s surface. In a preferred application, the transmitter(s) and/or receivers are located on or close to the seabed or the bed of some other area of water. Conveniently, there will be a single transmitter and an array of receivers, the transmitter(s) and receivers being dipole antennae or coils, though other forms of transmitter/receivers can be used. Also, if improved directionality of the emitted field is desirable, then a plurality of transmitters with phase adjustment can be used.
Electromagnetic surveying techniques in themselves are known. However, they are not widely used in practice. In general, the reservoirs of interest are about 1 km or more below the sea bed. In order to carry out electromagnetic surveying in these conditions, with any reasonable degree of resolution, short wavelengths are necessary. Unfortunately, such short wavelengths suffer from very high attenuation. Long wavelengths do not provide adequate resolution. For these reasons, seismic techniques are preferred.
However, while longer wavelengths applied by electromagnetic techniques cannot provide sufficient information to provide an accurate indication of the boundaries of the various strata, if the geological structure is already known, they can be used to determine the nature of a particular identified formation, if the possibilities for the nature of that formation have significantly differing electromagnetic characteristics. The resolution is not particularly important and so longer wavelengths which do not suffer from excessive attenuation can be employed.
The resistivity of sea water is about 0.3 ohm-m and that of the overburden beneath the sea bed would typically be from 0.3 to 4 ohm-m, for example about 2 ohm-m. However, the resisitivty of an oil reservoir is likely to be about 50 ohm-m. This large difference can be exploited using the techniques of the present invention. Typically, the resisitvity of a hydrocarbon-bearing formation will be 20 to 400 times greater than water-bearing formation.
Due to the different electromagnetic properties of a gas/oil bearing formation and a water bearing formation, one can expect a reflection of the transmitted field at the boundary of a gas/oil bearing formation. However, the similarity between the properties of the overburden and a reservoir containing water means that no reflection is likely to occur.
The transmitted field may be pulsed, however, a coherent continuous wave with stepped frequencies is preferred. It may be transmitted for a significant period of time, during which the transmitter should preferably be stationary, and the transmission stable. Thus, the field may be transmitted for a period of time from 30 seconds to 60 minutes, preferably from 3 to 30 minutes, for example about 20 minutes. Preferably, the receivers are arranged to detect a direct wave and a wave reflected from the reservoir, and the analysis includes extracting phase and amplitude data of the reflected wave from corresponding data from the direct wave.
The direct wave, which progresses via the sea water and the surface layers of the overburden, will reach the receivers first and will be much stronger than the later reflected waves. In an alternative system, therefore, the direct wave may be suppressed, using known techniques. This means that the receivers used will not require such a large dynamic range.
Preferably, the wavelength of the transmission is given by the formula
0.1 sxe2x89xa6xcexxe2x89xa610 s;
where xcex is the wavelength of the transmission through the overburden and s is the distance from the seabed to the reservoir. More preferably xcex is from about 0.5 s to 2 s. This may be achieved by adopting a transmission frequency from 0.1 Hz to 1 kHz, preferably from 1 to 50 Hz, for example 20 Hz.
In a preferred regime, a first transmission is made at a first frequency and received by each receiver in a tuned array of receivers, then a second transmission is made at a second frequency and received by the same tuned array of receivers, the receivers being tuned to receive their respective transmission. This would probably be repeated several more times, though it may only be carried out once.
Preferably, the analysis includes comparing the results of the measurements taken with the results of a mathematical simulation model based on the known properties of the reservoir and overburden conditions.
Preferably, the distance between the transmitter and a receiver is given by the formula
0.5xcexxe2x89xa6lxe2x89xa610xcex;
where xcex is the wavelength of the transmission through the overburden and l is the distance between the transmitter and the first receiver.
Given that the distance s and the geometry of the reservoir will be known from previous seismic surveys, an optimum xcex and l would be selected.
Where dipole antennae are used these may be fixed, however, they are preferably adapted antennae which can be tuned for optimum transmission and reception in dependence upon the frequency of the transmission and its wavelength through the overburden. This may be achieved by altering their effective length either by remote controlled relays or by electronic switching systems. In addition, the driving circuit may be tuned in order to increase the bandwidth.
Preferably, the analysing means is arranged to analyse phase and amplitude.
If a location of interest is considered, a mathematical modelling operation may be carried out. Thus, the various relevant parameters, such as depth and expected resistivities of the various known strata in the overburden are applied to the mathematical model and the expected results are calculated in dependence upon whether a formation under consideration is oil-bearing or water-bearing. The theoretically predicted results can then be compared with the actual results achieved in the field in order to determine the nature of the formation.
The present invention also extends to a method of surveying subterranean measures which comprises; performing a seismic survey to determine the geological structure of a region; and where that survey reveals the presence of a subterranean reservoir, subsequently performing a method as described above.